Cat's Eye
by Sugar-Hype-Queen
Summary: Plagued with bad luck, Rei Kon is sent a mysterious package. Things get out of hand, and soon he finds himself in the middle of a very old conflict. Eventual KaRe.
1. Chapter 1

_**CAT EYE ** _

* * *

Chapter One:

**A DAY THAT BURNS**_  
_

* * *

_- **In obscurum, pluma crepito. Quis would vos teneo super meus peius fortuna?**_

--_In darkness, feathers rustle. What would you know about my ill luck?_

* * *

A wooden clacking rang dully, nevertheless in sharp contrast to the intensity of the brooding silence. 

As hushed and harsh as the bitterest winter wind, a lone voice sounded.

'_What now?'_

There was no answer, only a feathery rustle. Even in the opaque blackness of the chamber, the voice sighed as if observing something markedly unpleasant for the millionth time.

'_Must it be now, Draz? I am so tired tonight…'_

The soft swishing of feathers echoed. Another sigh, almost inaudible in the vapid quiet.

'_Tell them I'm coming.'_

**_Clack_**.

No more airy rustlings. The owner of the voice was left once more alone in the darkness.

* * *

Rreeeoow! Rreeeeeoooow! Rreeeeo- **_SLAM! _**

A single hand smashed clumsily against the clock, as if trying to smack away the very notion of waking up. The noise ceased.

On the white sheets of a small bed, a young man of _almost_ 18 years sat up slowly and silently, listening intently for the faintest noise. Risk was a part of life, Rei knew, but in the past month alone, simply getting out of bed had been met with the formidable adversaries of (but not limited to) various insects, sprained appendages, filthy water from a burst pipe, and a vicious rat the size of a Yorkshire terrier.

He was perfectly willing to attempt to avoid further risks while getting out of bed, at the very least.

Hearing nothing, he leaned over and scrutinized the seemingly harmless patch of bland wooden flooring beside his bed with narrowed golden eyes. Hearing nothing and seeing nothing, Rei (daringly) clambered out of his bed.

…

…

**_SCRIIIPP!_**

Slowly, he looked down to see his the pajama pants he had been sleeping in was ripped clear up the side, one end of the fabric mysteriously snagged on the metal edge of his bed.

"Oh well," he muttered, snatching the material from the railing and walking over to the large wooden dresser to fetch a large brush, "Better than the mutant rat." The calming light red of the walls did nothing but make him sleepier, so he shuffled over to peer through the large window, all the while doing deathly battle with his lengthy raven hair.

The sun was flinging bright spears of light to bounce off various buildings and cars, making the urban environment seem to sparkle.

Rei smiled sleepily.

Soon his hair was braided, wrapped, and pushed out of his face by his lucky red head band. The only reason he kept his hair so long was because it was supposed to trap good luck (and he liked the way it looked), just like his headband, the arrangement of his furniture, the numerous charms he owned, and the color of his walls- none of it had worked yet. No one blamed him for trying.

Dressed simply in white pants and a sleeveless, China-Red shirt,(and today a lucky white strip of cloth from a temple wrapped around his wrist,) the long walk to work passed in a blur for Rei. Snippets of a dream kept surfacing… Feathers? A voice? None of it made sense. It was distracting, and it made him have trouble staying alert. Which was bad, because being alert was essential to:

1) Not being hit by an automobile

2) Not being hit by a bike

3) Not being run over by another/other pedestrians

4) Not being outright murdered/mugged in broad daylight

5) Not having something else really very terrible happen to him that was not already covered by his insurance. Hospitals bills were so troublesome.

Rei arrived at the workplace with a grateful sigh. There in one piece and (hopefully) leaving in the same condition, that was him!

It was a large studio with an almost unnoticeable small entrance, hidden amongst a forest of small shops and offices. Rei darted in, dodging the steady stream of people flowing in and out of the venues.

"Hey, look out, it's the Black Cat," the secretary Queen called jokingly, sapphire eyes positively wicked. Rei snorted.

"Good morning to you too, _Queenie_."

The secretary scowled at him darkly, and the Chinese male could only chuckle nervously at the glare that promised such dreadful things.

Distinguished photos from the BBA studio hung along the brick walls in a familiar pattern that he followed down the halls, saying hello to people he knew. He thought back to his encounter with the secretary, shuddering at the memory of that glare.

At BBA Studios, he was known as the Black Cat, notorious for his bad luck; more so than for his photography, which was somewhat vexing. During his first day on the job, a lunatic had busted into the building and taken him and a few others hostage. SWAT had a hard time of it. Rei had taken pictures.

His second month on the job, his newly appointed personal workspace he had labored so hard to get was burned to the ground when the janitor left a cigarette lit in the bin. The fire was put out before it could reach any other area but his.

Things like this happened every now and then to Rei, in between misfortunes like contaminated food (he had once found out about a nationwide recall of his favorite brand of strawberries just as he was popping one into his mouth), accidents (he had long ago given up hope of owning a car or bike, he was happy just not to be killed by one), and various other nasty surprises.

But life went on. Even if near death experiences were becoming as common as visits from an annoying relative, he hadn't died yet, and things were pretty much going ok, and for that at least Rei counted himself as lucky.

Today was mostly developing photos his team had taken a few months ago. All Rei had to do was stop by his work area (Who spilled coffee all over his papers?), grab the film, and go lock himself in the nearest darkroom. Slowly, images of people (Tyson's specialty) and places (Max's) began to develop, and Rei finally felt himself relax.

After leaving the village (He was only bad luck from the beginning. Only Lee's family had been sad to see him go.), he had tried every kind of job there was for someone who was so young and could only speak so much Japanese, but all had ended horribly.

Luckily (or rather, unluckily, either one) he had met a man named Tala. True, Tala was the one who almost killed him by running him over in his car. But things happen, and Rei was ready to forgive and forget. Later, he even asked Tala to sign his cast. The red haired motorist, however, had freaked out, almost having a panic attack in the middle of the street.

He needed more calming down than the boy he had run over. When he learned of Rei's unemployment, he immediately offered him a place to help out at BBA Studios.

Rei was soon delighted to find (after the initial incident) that he was relatively good at his new job. Things didn't explode in his face most of the time, and there were even a few pieces of equipment he could work without them mysteriously malfunctioning. When he turned sixteen, Tala had even given him his own camera, an old-fashioned model. New things never worked for Rei, but sometimes old stuff did. It was rather frustrating at times, but he didn't complain.

He mostly edited, developed, and helped out with the technical stuff, but Tala had given him free lessons. Rei eventually found that he had a knack for getting everything a subject had to offer into a photograph, and always in a way artistic and appealing to the eye.

The film he was developing now contained images related to a story the BBA Press firm was doing on a new shop being opened. _Boring_.

Still, Rei diligently adjusted the levels of acetic acid a strip of film was bathing in, and was about to put away the container when-

"HEY REI! HOW YA DOIN, MAN?"

-Max decided to visit.

"Ah_-"_

The clear liquid splashed directly into his left eye. It felt like liquid fire.

Hissing, Rei hunched over, clutching at his eye. The blond walked over slowly, blinking blue eyes in confusion.

"Hey Rei, what's wrong?"

Options, options. He could insist that he was fine. Max might just go away and leave him to pass out from the pain in peace. Or he could have him call 911, but he knew from experience they always took too long with stuff like this. Then there was the go-get-help number, but that was just too cliché. Still, his eye felt like it was melting, so he had to pick one, now didn't he?

"M-Max, please go get some help," he gasped out, trying to keep his voice steady, "I g-got something in my eye. Ok-kay?"

"Uh, yeah, I mean, sure, I mean, just, I mean-"

"_Just_ _go_."

"Okay!"

The blond darted out of the room, and suddenly the floor was much closer than it should have been. Throughout the years, Rei had developed a pretty high threshold for pain, but this was his _eye_. The stuff he was using was pretty diluted, but it still stung.

"The Black Cat strikes again," Rei muttered.

And the day had begun so well, too.

* * *

**Chyeah… So… Comments? Please? It's short, I know, but should I continue on, or keep it where it is?**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two:

**LUNAR PHASES**

* * *

**_Ex preteritus supervenio is phasmatis._**

_From the past arrives this ghost._

* * *

_Despite its ghastly pallor, it emitted an ethereal radiance. He hated the moon. Its light reached like ghostly hands through the glass of the windows, spilling unhindered into the chamber. Lighting his path. _

_Nothing was to be found here, really. No furniture, no paintings, not even dust… Just bare wood and the wide, vaulting windows that the right side of the room was mostly composed of. _

_And at the very end of the hall like room, there was but one thing. An ugly black hole, yawning hungrily in some wicked imitation of a fireplace. No flame was ever there, but tonight, not unlike others, short flickers of light peeked from the black of the opening like St. Elmo's fire._

_Onward he walked, after many long moments finally reaching the terrible structure. A horrible gargling noise met him, the sound a drowned man would make if suddenly reanimated by some unspeakable act of necromancy. _

_He cast the moon outside an empty gaze. _

_It was beginning to wane, just a hint of a shadow creeping along one side of its rim. It would eventually disappear, he knew consumed by its shadow…but then it would reappear soon afterwards, an undying pestilence in the night sky. _

_Disgusted, he turned his eyes away. _

_A muffled moan of agony echoed from the opening in front of him. He crawled into the fireplace._

* * *

Rei swallowed nervously. Working with the photographers he did meant he did a fair amount of travel, but being inside of moving objects got old for him after the ninth broken bone. He looked down at his seat, causing the red head beside him to chuckle.

"Man, you look like a sorry excuse for a pirate."

"Oh, thanks Tala. I was worried my self esteem was going down, but that just _made my day_."

Icy blue eyes glanced from the buzz of traffic to Rei's annoyed face, a wolfish smirk dancing beneath them. He tipped the steering wheel to the left, and Rei suddenly felt his scant breakfast of a bagel and orange juice protest fiercely.

"Seriously, how do you manage to get acetic acid in your eye not an hour on the job? Only the Black Cat. I don't know how you do it."

Rei brought a hand to his white eye patch, frowning defensively. The doctor told him it'd be fine in a week or two if he didn't mess with it and tried not to strain it. Tala was giving him a ride home, not trusting him to walk home with his new eye patch right away. He was under strict orders not to even show up within twelve feet of the Studio while the eye patch was still on.

They made another turn, and Rei felt sick, which was good, because he knew for a fact the driver would kill him if he was sick while still in the car. Tala's car was small and dark red, mimicking the hue of its owners hair. It emitted a constant clicking noise that kept Rei on edge and tended to make him grind his teeth together. Oh, how he _hated_ Tala's car.

The owner of said car chuckled a bit more at the scowl that formed like a darkening cloud on his companion's face, but changed the subject nonetheless.

"So your birthday's coming up. Any plans?"

"Nah, not really. I was kind of just going to buy a few books, maybe, nothing big."

"What? You're about to turn eighteen, stupid! What you need is a party, and if you were to just ask your **_dashing_** twenty-year-old-pal for help, I'm sure he'd be more than willing to throw you the party of your pathetic lifetime!"

"He'd need to get back to planet earth, first. Hey, don't give me that look! I appreciate the thought, but it'd probably be a disaster anyway."

"Yeah," Tala groused, "But it would be awesome anyway. People will say, -'Hey, remember that raunchy birthday bash where the room caught fire and we all partied in the rain?'- years later. Come on Rei! No guts, no glory."

"Raunchy?"

Tala gave him another Look, and Rei smiled back sheepishly.

"I'll think about it, I promise."

"You better. Because when Tala Ivanov throws a party, he throws a**party**."

"That was redundant and creepy. What's with you and referring to yourself in third person?"

"We're. Here." Tala growled.

And indeed they were. The front of Rei's building was clearly visible through the window, wilting shrubbery and all.

"Now get out before I kick you out, and think about that party. I need an excuse to get a few people wasted, and-"

"Bye Tala."

Rei hopped out, the red vehicle sliding away behind him into the smooth flow of midday traffic with a quick farewell honk.

Entering the building, he fished in his pocket for his keys for a moment, visible eye wandering aimlessly while he felt around for the small metal object. Rei had requested, and with much work obtained, an apartment on the first floor: for safety reasons. Him and elevators didn't get along. Plus, it was a very short walk from the entrance.

Nevertheless, as he walked along the hall to his door, three lights flickered out, leaving him in half darkness. This didn't really bother him, but it did boost his paranoia up about three levels. But he wasn't paranoid! Just…vigilant.

Coming closer to his door, he noticed a wooden box lying on the rough blue carpet of the floor. It was small, about the size of a phone book, maybe, but his heart sped up faster than Tala's driving once he hit the freeway. Panicking seemed very tempting at the moment.

Instead, he reached into his pocket for his celphone. He'd make Tala open it. The black haired teen had almost finished dialing his boss's number when the phone died, and at that moment Rei wanted to _scream_.

"Risk is a part of life, risk is a part of life, risk is a part of life…"

He repeated the words like a mantra as he edged closer to the nondescript package.

Nothing happened. s

A small note became visible, the characters meticulously painted with what had to be ink and a brush.

對光芒, it said.

'_To Rei'_.

No sender.

Curiosity was one of Rei's more prominent qualities, and this was becoming harder and harder to resist. Nothing had happened so far, right? And if something did happen, he'd have plenty of time off work to get over it anyway, right? And then there was the box itself. It was made out of a type of bamboo he could only remember seeing in the village where he grew up, and the brushed on ink and the Chinese characters all fueled his suspicion of the package being from the place he had once called home.

In the flickering light of the hall, Rei scooped up the box, unlocked his door and disappeared inside.

* * *

Chyeah, so… Comments? Puhleeeeaaassssseee? ; 


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three:

**SYMPATHY FOR PANDORA**

* * *

**_Ex sulum procuratio , amo umbra , illa specialis recolligo quod merge…_**

From every direction, like shadows, these secrets gather and merge...

* * *

_In the same room where airy rustlings first summoned him away, he hid from the daylight. Although he enjoyed it, he also knew that night would come and snatch it away soon enough. So he tried not to become too attached. _

_Instead, he lost himself in the pages of a novel he'd already read, reread, and read again numerous times before. Not just in his current life, either…but it was all becoming the same thing. _

_Engrossed at this point, he was able to distance himself from the misery of the night before. It was so routine now; he always wound up back in this room after it was over, barely able to move but alive in some sense of the word._

_He flipped another page. As if in defiance, a memory of the past night surfaced, making him frown and reach into his pocket. The solid weight of the stone was comforting in his hand, gently warming the flesh. A reminder that he was still alive for now, and as such, might one day escape._

* * *

He was going to open the thing. 

Really, he was. Just… Just not right that second.

"This is ridiculous," Rei sighed, slouching in dejectedly.

Beyond the tense atmosphere of the kitchen was his small, cozy living room. It tempted him, calling him to come in, forget about all of the day's crap and indulge himself in a favorite book.

Rei forced himself to look back at the table.

On it's dull wooden surface rested the cause of all his current anxiety: the Package. He glanced around the room as if to draw courage from the scenery. Sorry, nothing inspiring there: a few pictures of roosters and tigers, white tile floors, plain white counters, an ancient fridge, an oven, a rarely used microwave…and his table.

Where the Package still sat.

Unopened.

He found himself ripping open the paper with a growl (something he usually refrained from doing), only to find that whatever was inside was packed with dry grass. On top of the dead vegetation was an envelope with his name on it. He opened this, as well, with impatient fervor. Inside was a manuscript of inked characters that caused a wave of homesickness to wash over him. He shook it off.

* * *

**Kon, Rei**

**I hope you are well. As you know, you and your mother were the first we have seen of the Kon family since your ancestor left the village. Maybe one day you will return, and maybe not. Regardless, I could not give this to you before now. You were not yet of age. This object is your birthright, and you must be very, very careful with it. **

**It has been called the Cat's Eye, but do not let this name fool you into taking it lightly.  
Do not folly and sell it, and do not allow it to be stolen! Now that you possess it, you have the chance to set things right…or you may continue your ancestor's mistake that has reached so far through time. **

**I can say no more than that. **

**Despite passing grudges and misgivings, know that your people will always care about you, and wish you safe from evil. **

**May the right path be clear in your eyes.**

**Congratulations on reaching your eighteenth year, my boy.  
**

**Zhao Do Chao, Head of the Village**

* * *

After his third time rereading the letter, the seventeen year old managed, with some effort, to put the paper down. 

Since when had Lee's dad become head of the village?

Okay, putting that aside for a moment. He'd only heard bits and pieces, snatched by eavesdropping on the village gossipers, but he had a vague idea of what his family situation was.

Apparently one of his ancestors, said to be a crackpot of sorts, left the village seeking greatness. Never seen again. Rumor had it he died a beggar, but then there were lots of rumors about him. Then, years and years later, Rei's mother showed up at the village with him in her arms, and died shortly after.

He never quite knew what to make of all this in the first place, and now this _letter_? What mistake, exactly? What did his ancestor _do_? It wasn't as if he'd been positively swelling with family pride in the first place, but this… This was **ridiculous**. Rei scratched his head, carefully avoiding the strap of the eye patch.

His visible eye narrowed at the paper. Rei felt overwhelmed, confused, frustrated, nervous, annoyed at not knowing what was going on, and… and, **Kami,** he wanted to know what was inside!

Rei reached his hand into the box, feeling around until he felt something solid. He grabbed it and pulled it out, immediately stunned at what he saw.

It was a gem.

It was more than that, though. It was an effervescent kind of green, with hues and shadows that seemed to dance before him. It was set in a thickish metal disc about the size of his palm. Rune-like characters unlike anything Rei had ever seen before decorated its smooth surface, along with a series of beautiful geometric designs. Even in the light of his kitchen, it seemed to glow. Brighter and brighter until-

"AH!"

Rei yelled in panic as sparks erupted from the stone to flitter over his hands and up his arms to cover his body. It felt like static shocks all over him, the yellow of the electricity leaping everywhere. Rei flung it onto the floor, not daring to take his eyes off of it even as the tingling sparks diminished.

He gasped, trying to catch his breath. Looking down at his hands, he saw they were trembling. A slight feeling of pressure in his eyes let him know that his pupils had probably slitted as they often did when he was scared or mad or excited. Moisture dripped from his brow to the floor, alerting him that somewhere along the way he'd started sweating.

Rei stared at the drop of liquid on the floor before slowly dragging his vision along the white tile to the taunting gleam of the Cat's Eye. He swallowed. How was it that he'd only had this thing for less than ten minutes and he was already a wreck?

There was a knock at the door.

Rei jumped almost two foot into the air at the noise, and after taking a brief moment to calm down, he prepared himself to dash to his pone and dial 911.

"Rei? Are you there? It's me, Max!"

The sound was muffled, but the voice was unmistakable. Rei moved damp hair out of his eyes, pushed up his headband, and tried to make himself look somewhat presentable. It was only Max, thank goodness!

"Tyson's here, too. Can we come in?"

"Y-yeah! Uh, hold on just a second!"

What was he going to do about the rock? And the letter? He really didn't want to touch the thing right now, and Max would ask questions, and Tyson might try to _eat_ it, and-

"Rei? Are you there?"

"I'll be there in a sec!"

There was nothing to be done about it, he supposed. Heck, maybe Tyson's brother would know something about it, he was good with ancient languages and stuff, right? Rei jogged over to the door and opened it to see a grinning Tyson and a sheepish looking Max. It wasn't a surprise, really. The two were inseparable, practically joined at the hip.

"Hey Rei!" said Tyson, loud as ever. Max waved feebly, making Rei frown a bit in worry. What was up with Max?

"Hey, buddy. Mind if we come in?"

Tyson nodded vigorously, probably with the notion that Rei would fix them something to eat. The amber eyed male wasn't too keen on coughing up the last of his homemade egg rolls, but that was just Tyson for you.

Rei frowned thoughtfully, wondering how he would explain the scene. Maybe they would just not notice it? He moved aside to let them enter, smiling in greeting.

Max sighed in relief and rubbed at the back of his neck, a hint of a blush coloring his face as he walked in.

"I came here to apologize, Rei. I'm so sorry! I feel horrible! What was I thinking, just barging in like tha- Whoa! Rei, what…" the blonde trailed off, leaving his query to dissolve into the air. Tyson slowly looked away from the stone to Max, prompting his blond friend to do the same.

"Max… You thinking what I'm thinking?"

Max nodded. Rei fidgeted nervously, not sure of what to do. "Uhm, you guys, I don't really know what to tell you, but-"

The neko-jin paused as Tyson drew a similar object from his pocket, while Max pulled one out from a chain under his shirt. Max's shone a light ocean blue, set in a disc of dark wood, while Tyson's was a stormy grey, set in a semitransparent crystal disc. Both had symbols and patterns similar to Rei's Cat's Eye graven onto their surfaces.

Rei gaped at them for a long while before he could choke out a pathetic excuse at saving his sentence. "-b-but, I guess I don't have to say much, do I?"

* * *

**Just in case anyone cares, I kind of pictured the novel to be Eugene Onegin, but whatever works for you. Please, please review. Or I'll slap a rabbit, I swear I will!**


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